THE GENESEE FARMER. 



317 



HORTICULTITRAL NOTES. 



WRITTBN FOR TSE GENESEE FARMER BT W. D. LOTUROP. 

 THE RED ASTRAOHAN AND WILLIAMS' APPLES. 



Cultivtitors are much divided upon tlie relative 

 7alne of these early apples. The former lias been 

 extensively disseminated, and now makes its ap- 

 )earaiice in the Boston mari<et. Some, pleased 

 Yith its good traits— very rapid and luxuriant 

 p-owth, and larfl;e and peculiarly beautiful fruit— 

 lave placed it above the Williams. Otluers, re- 

 garding its acidity ^nd liability to rot on tiie tree, 

 lave placed it below. In the middle of August, 

 iliese two apples stand out conspicuously. Four 

 n- five years ago, when very fine specimens of both 

 dnds were on exhibition at the Mnssacliusetts 

 Horticultural Society, I spoke of the great beauty 

 )f the Astrachaa to a gentleman present. _"C)1>^!|^ 

 *aid he, " no comparison in va!ue to tlie Williams'." 

 [ felt somewhat disposed then to demur, but can 

 aot say to-day that the gentleman was wrong. I 

 liave tliem both in bearing. By picking the As- 

 traciiau as soon as they get well colored, and 

 placing tliem in a dry place, their propensity to rot 

 IB checked, they soon become mellow, and their 

 acidity is so reduced that they are very agreeable 

 in the hot season, and never cloy the appetite. 

 The Williams is not so rapid a grower, nor so 

 early a bearer, and requires the best of soil to 

 bring them up handsomely ; they are then splen- 

 did, and being always of a mild, agreeable flavor, 

 and of beauty unsurpassed, I regard it, for a sum- 

 mer apple, very near perfection. It brings the 

 highest price in market, and as it is so good a 

 table apple, it will probably have the precedence 

 with fruit dealers (as it keeps well) and their 

 patrons, the public, even when the Astrachan be- 

 comes better known- -although the latter has 

 brought great prices. Speaking to a farmer a few 

 days since in reference to the Williams, he said he 

 had been advised to graft it extensively for the 

 market, and he felt disposed to do so, if his trees 

 w.ere sufficiently young and vigorous. 



THE RAPID GROWTH OF FOREST TREKS. 



Some middle-aged men, who are too illiberal to 

 plant for posterity, I have often heard complain 

 that it was no use to plant forest trees for beauty 

 and shade, as their growth was so slow that tliey 

 should never enjoy them in their grace and state- 

 liness. And these remarks have been particularly 

 applied to the Elm. I confess myself that tliey 

 grow much faster than I supposed they did. But 

 here are some facts : A gentleman in this town, in 

 1850, had several Elms well-planted in the street 

 in front of Ins dwelling. The soil was very fair, 

 and the trees were about two inches in diameter. 

 Now, in 1863, thirteen years since, the largest one 

 measures 43 inches in circumference, and is nearly 

 40 feet in hight, which, by deducting two inches 

 for the tree when set, leaves 14 inches in diameter 

 for thirteen years' growth— a little more than an 

 inch a year. This is the best growth of the Elm I 

 have ever seen. 



The same year, a gentleman being anxious to 

 shade a new house, planted several of the Abele 

 or Silver-leaf Poplar, all of which were suckers 

 brought from a neighbor's, grasped in one baud. 

 They were set in a very hard, rocky soil, aud this 



year one of them measures 50 inches in circum- 

 fei-ence, being neMrly 17 inches in diameter, with 

 toi) enough to threaten space — and all the gi-owth 

 of thirteen years. This is doing better than the 

 Elm, as we should exi)ect from the tree's known 

 character for gross feeding. | 



On my own grounds I have several Oaks from 

 30 to 40 feet in hight, which were suifered to re- 

 main for their great beauty, especially when inter- 

 si)ersed with other ornamental trees and shrubs 

 from the nursery. In 1850, one was only two 

 inches through, now it is 11, and about 25 teet in 

 hight. 



So it appears that the Abele. makes more than an 

 inch a year in diameter, the Elm about an inch, 

 and the Oak a little less. 



VEGETABLE FARMERS. 



A neighbor of mine — not a farmer, however— is 

 much "■exercised" at the money the vegetable 

 farmers are making near Boston this season— and 



other seasons also. "There> the L 's." says 



he, "who got into the city fifty bushels of toma- 

 toes wlien they were worth $5.00 per busliel. and 

 got the cash. They keep three teams going all the 

 season, and by high manuring are enabled to turn 

 out all the cash vegetables in season to command 

 the highest price — such as rhubarb, asparauni^ let- 

 tuce, pears, Dotatoes, corn, turnips, &c. And Mr. 

 P., he got $20 for two bushels of tomatoes by get- 

 ting them in extra early." . 



The present season all garden produce is very 

 high, as labor is scarce; and in fact, at other sea- 

 sons the farmers near Boston find the raising of 

 garden produce the most profitable-husbandry, a8 

 it brings the readiest cash. But the business re- 

 quires a good deal of energy and industry, which 

 every farmer does not possess. So profitable do 

 the farmers of West Cambridge find the raising of 

 early vegetables, that thrifty orchards have been 

 dug up for this ])urpose. Yet others will let their 

 land remain comparatively idle, and wonder how 

 A. and B. ])ocket so nmch money ! 



West Med ford, Mass. 



BLUE GLASS FOR SEED BEDS. 



R. Hunt, Secretary of the Royal Polytechnic 

 Society, says that "The light which permeates col- 

 ored glass partakes to some considerable exientof 

 the character of the ray, which correspotids with 

 the glass in color. Thus, blue glass admits the 

 cliemical rays, to the exclusion, or nearly so, of 

 all the others. Yellow glass admits only the per- 

 meation of the luminous rays^ while red glass cuts 

 ofl:' all but the heating rays— which pass it freely. 

 This affords us a very easy method of growing 

 plants under the influence of any particuk-ir light_ 

 which may be desired. The fact to which I would 

 pai-ticularly call attention is, that the yellow and 

 red rays are destructive to germination, whereas, 

 under the influence of violet, indigo or l)lue, the 

 process is quickened in a most extraordinary man- 

 ner. The plants will grow most luxuriantly be- 

 neath glass of a blue character, but bene-ilh the 

 yellow and red glasses the natural proce,ss is en- 

 tirely checked. Indeed, it will be found that at 

 any period during the early life of a ])lant, ita 

 growth may be checked by exposing it to the ac- 

 tion of red or yellow light." 



